Ich??

[molybdenumman]

I have finally recovered my reef tank from a long and arduous battle with hair algae. (Alkalinity and Ca way too low) I had to boost my Ca levels with some turbo calcium which finally got her settled down. Since that time, ~1 week ago, my skunk clown, tomato clown, flame angel and bicolour basslet have been displaying what I assume is Ich (white spots all about their bodies). My yellow tang, false perc and banggai show no signs.

How do I go about treating these guys? I don't have access to a quarantine tank.

MoMan

[Scavenger]

If you have confirmed you have an ich issue in your tank, read up as much as you can on it. Remember "know thy enemy"

My favorite cure is as follows.

Head on down to your local supermarket and pick up a bottle of garlic extract for about 5 bucks. Soak your fishes favorite food in the extract. My 2 favorites are marine flake and nori. They just soak up the extract very well. I use a plastic lid to place food on and then pour the extract on it. After food has absorbed the extract dip it into the tank. The extract is also a hell of a lot easier than spending your day crushing garlic cloves

Do this every day and continue to do so for a period of about 6-8 weeks after (and I repeat) after you last see any signs of ich on your fish. Ich has a life cycle of around 28 days (I believe) and your goal is to completely eliminate it from your tank. Continuing the treatment for double the life cycle increases your odds of eradicating the pest.

Also changing things around in your tank may have stressed your fish and this may be the original source of the outbreak. Ich has a hard time attaching to a healthy happy fish as their defenses are in top shape.
Keep your fish at the best health you can and watch for a slip in appetite.
If your fish refuses to accept medicated food, perhaps a fresh water dip may be in order.

As I stated when I opened, this is my favorite method. Other more knowledgeable folks here may have different or better options for you.

[Bob I]

You might want to increase your knowledge by reading all five of the articles to which I will supply a link.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...2003/mini1.htm

[bulletsworld]

Garlic does not cure ich. It only helps the fish immune system, you will still have ich in your tank.

Knowing your enemy is the key, I agree. Understanding the life cycle of parasite is crucial.

Other forums to check out are: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=167243

and articles:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...marineich.html

www.reefcentral.com has a great forums on disease and different kinds.

Let the force be with ya!

[Aquattro]

Not to get technical and all, but I have found that using garlic makes white spots on fish go away. This equals good. Try garlic, you'll like it.

[Scavenger]

Originally Posted by bulletsworld

Garlic does not cure ich. It only helps the fish immune system, you will still have ich in your tank.

True, I should have been more specific. I read up on this cure before using it. Apart from various forum users saying "use garlic" I read a few articles I found by Googling. This is a layman's summary of what I read from a couple of sources.

Apparently, after ingesting the garlic, the fish excretes it from it's skin , this is unappealing to the ich and it falls off. Also new ich will not attach to the unappealing skin. If the ich doesn't find a suitable host it dies. After time if all goes well all the ich in the tank dies.

As I said this is a summary and I can't vouch for the scientific merit of this knowledge. It made sense to me at the time and worked well for me. I'm not a scientist and if this information is wrong please correct it. We all know there is erroneous information all over the internet.

[bulletsworld]

Originally Posted by reef_raf

Not to get technical and all, but I have found that using garlic makes white spots on fish go away. This equals good. Try garlic, you'll like it.

yeah if you knew about the life cycle of the parasite you would know that the ich falls of the fish regardless of what you soak the food in within 3-7days.

The life cycle of C. irritans (Ich)

C. irritans has a four stage life cycle. The parasitic stage (theronts) is the one that results in the appearance of white spots all over the fish. The theronts burrow under the skin where they feed on body fluids and tissue debris. When the theronts first infect the fish they are small but grow as they feed and so the white spots are initially small but get larger as they mature. Once mature, they drop off the fish and sink/swim down to the substrate where they encyst and begin to reproduce. In this stage they are called tomonts. After a number of days in which the tomonts divide, the cyst ruptures, releasing the tomites. Tomites may differentiate into theronts, the infective stage, which actively seek a host to reinfect.
The life cycle of C. irritans

C. irritans has a four stage life cycle, as shown in Figure 1. The parasitic stage (theronts) is the one that results in the appearance of white spots all over the fish. The theronts burrow under the skin where they feed on body fluids and tissue debris. When the theronts first infect the fish they are small but grow as they feed and so the white spots are initially small but get larger as they mature. Once mature, they drop off the fish and sink/swim down to the substrate where they encyst and begin to reproduce. In this stage they are called tomonts. After a number of days in which the tomonts divide, the cyst ruptures, releasing the tomites. Tomites may differentiate into theronts, the infective stage, which actively seek a host to reinfect.

[Aquattro]

Ken, I think, at least for myself, that the point is to remove the white dots from my fish. The life cycle of a parasite is interesting and all, but I just want the spots off my fish.
When I treated my tang for a heavy infestation of white spots, I chose garlic. I didn't believe in it, but thought what the heck. Well, the spots went away and have not returned in 18 months. So if they've been hiding in my tank for that long, they can stay. My fish are happy (other than bad breath issues) and I'm happy that the spots are gone. You can add all the science and background info you want to that, but in the end, garlic made spots go away.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by bulletsworld

Tomites may differentiate into theronts, the infective stage, which actively seek a host to reinfect.

And if you knew about garlic, you'd know this is the part that doesn't happen. It worked for me, it worked for many othrs, and is the treatment I will continue to recommend. You, of course, can choose to not use it.

[Scavenger]

Originally Posted by reef_raf

but in the end, garlic made spots go away.

Exactly! That is all I really wanted to share. Maybe I should have just left it there.